(switching gears to give you Taeyeon's POV so you can see what her motivations are)

The other “her”


Kim Taeyeon loudly repeats the same few words in her History text book for the third time in a row. It wasn’t processing.

Taking a deep breath, she runs her fingers over the words and tries to follow along..
“The Spanish Inquisition occurred in.. Hyukjae ah why aren’t you calling me back!”
With a frustrated yell, she flings the text book against the wall and sits down in her rocking chair, staring at her phone – urging it to ring.

She knows that theirs isn’t a normal relationship built on love but she had hoped that he would at least become attached to her out of habit.


A glance at the grandfather clock shows that it is past midnight. 
In Kim Taeyeon’s Daily Routine, hanging beside the clock, bed time is marked 11 pm sharp so that she can get the recommended 8 hours of sleep but she is breaking the rules that she cherishes so much for him.

She knows that he is worth it. 

And one day he will see that she is worth it too… he has to!

***********

“Okay Taeyeon you are over reacting! Maybe his cell phone died? Maybe your phone isn’t receiving messages? There could be so many logical reasons,” she rationalizes to herself and in a hurry takes out the battery from her cell phone and shoves it under the cushion.
“There!” with a satisfied look, she picks up her text book again and walks to her study table.

1 second
2 seconds
3 seconds

“Keep going. You’re doing great!”

4 seconds
5 seconds
6 se.. “But what if he is trying to call me right now?”



She jumps up again and re-plugs the battery in.
The phone rings suddenly making her jump.

His name shows up on the caller ID.
“YES!”

She falls onto her bed in relief. 
“Hello!” she answers in a pretend sleepy voice.
“Oh hi Taeyeon!” she hears his voice on the other side, sounding like music to her ears. “Were you asleep? I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“NO!” she stops him hastily, sitting up in her bed, “I’m up now. We can talk.”
She hears him sigh softly. Was it relief.. or disappointment?

“So what’s up?” she asks putting on a cheerful tone.
“Not a lot. Just returning your text messages.”
“Oh!” her voice trails off. “It’s just.. you ran off so suddenly at lunch and weren’t responding so I was worried you were sick or something.”
He apologizes and tells her he had something important to do.
“Oh really? Like what?” She crosses her fingers.
Without any hesitation, he answers, “It’s kind of childish but it was Hyoyeon and my friendship anniversary.”
Taeyeon closes her eyes wishing that he hadn’t been so honest with her. 
Wishing that he cared enough about her to lie.



But Hyukjae isn’t like that. 
It is why she fell in love with him in the first place.

Taeyeon was the most popular girl in all of Seoul Academy – a fact that she was well aware of. It would be impossible not to – since the seventh grade she had been proposed to by every single boy she had ever spoken to. They followed her like lost puppies claiming their undying love, gave her gifts and chocolates, offered to carry her books, brought her lunch boxes, left her love sick notes – the list was endless.

But Hyukjae was different – he was indifferent towards her.

She got to know him when they were paired as lab partners for a science class the year before.  And contrary to all expectations, he treated her like she was just a regular girl. This piqued her interest in him.  

But what cemented her decision to make him her boyfriend was the way he took care of his best friend – Kim Hyoyeon.

Perhaps because she had lost her father when she was just a child, Taeyeon had always yearned for a protective figure – one that would be devoted to her alone. Not in a superficial way but one who would always stick by her side.  

And this was what she saw in Hyukjae’s actions towards Hyoyeon. She had expected that once she succeeded in getting him to go out with her, that love and attention would immediately be transferred to her but Taeyeon had been proved wrong for the first time.

*****************************

She says goodnight to him and hangs up the phone. A picture flashes on the screen – her cellphone background. It was the only picture Taeyeon had of the two of them alone and Fany had practically forced them into it. A tiny scowl creases her brow again just as it does every time she looks at the picture – Hyukjae has his hands in his pockets while she is holding on to his arm. 
It’s the little things like this that hurt her.


It has been more than six months since they started dating and he has yet to initiate any kind of skinship. The worst part is that she can’t even blame him. He is the perfect boyfriend – he pays attention to her when she’s talking, he remembers her birthday and pays for their dates, he escorts her to school dances, he holds the door open for her and walks her home– but he won’t give her the one thing that she desires the most … 
his heart.


Taeyeon isn’t stupid. She knows that Hyukjae has already given his heart away and the only reason they are still together is because he is too nice to dump her. He's given her the chance to break up with him plenty of times but she refuses to take the bait. 
Everything she has achieved so far has been through hard work and determination – her flawless GPA, her perfect hair and body, her post as student council president – Lee Hyukjae cannot be more unachievable.

*********************************

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Boxing Day is better for presents so here's my gift to all you wonderful readers 8)